How Other People Stereotype Your City

I always find it really fascinating to find out how people from different places can perceive the same things so differently. And especially how people from other countries, regions, and cities perceive my city, region, and country – what they focus on, and what things stand out in their mind. In other words – people’s country, region, and city stereotypes.

For years – it has always been an interesting conversation to have – but finding out stereotypes has always been anecdotal. But last year – Renee DiResta had the brilliant idea to apply something that we all use everyday – Google AutoSuggest – to find out US State Stereotypes (you can see that post here).

Here’s the same methodology used on the top 50 US cities (by metro area population) to get the top 4 to 5 city stereotypes of each.

Just FYI – Google Auto Suggest works by using the most common and trending searches to auto-suggest the rest of your search. So when you go to Google and start typing in a search, Google uses other previously searched for terms to try to guess what you are looking for.

So, for this experiment, the search “why is CITYNAME so” will auto suggest the terms that people most commonly (or most recently) are using to complete that search. That search is like a window into what people are actually thinking and trying to find out about your city. Here they are in descending order of population (#50 to NYC).

Just to be clear – the images are from Google. They are not my perceptions. They are made up of what people actually search for.

50. Salt Lake City

49. Buffalo

Alas, I didn’t have any other pre-conceptions about Buffalo. This is going to be a theme among all the rust belt cities.

48. Birmingham

Apparently Birmingham is important (ie, people who slept through the Civil Rights part of history class?) – and I can totally confirm that it is quite ugly. There are definitely beautiful parts – but I-20 and I-59 really mess things up.

40. Jacksonville

39. Milwaukee

38. Providence

Sorry Providence, not enough people cared enough to Google anything about you.

EDIT: Some Rhode Islanders have helpfully pointed out that their state is so small that Providence and Rhode Island are basically synonymous.

37. Virginia Beach

I had no idea Virginia Beach was the #37 metro area in America. Seriously. I would say they need to work on their branding, but it’s the headquarters of America’s Navy, so I don’t think they want the publicity.

EDIT: I have learned that this is a metro agglomeration similar to the Inland Empire that encompasses Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Newport News.

36. Nashville

Looks like the same theme as Louisville – but hotter.

35. Austin

Ok, I think Austin wants to fit in with its stereotypes.

34. San Jose

Spot on from what I hear.

33. Indianapolis

Apparently the one thing people think of when they think of Indianapolis is the fabulous SoBro Cafe.

EDIT: Some helpful Indianapolisians pointed out that SoBro is also refers to the South of Broad neighborhood.

8. Miami

I’ve never really had a pre-conception of Miami – I’d be interested to hear from someone who lives there.

EDIT: Great to see some perspectives of Miamians in the comments. Be sure to check them out.

7. Washington DC

Very revealing. Expensive and poor. There’s a dissertation for you.

6. Philadelphia

From my sources – Philadelphia really is a love it or hate it kind of city.

5. Houston

Houstonians: These are very true.

4. Dallas

Windy? Otherwise, dead-on.

EDIT: Texans have informed me that their state is so windy that they get paid a lot of money to put up wind farms. Today I learned.

3. Chicago

Yep, dead on.

EDIT: To reiterate the introduction, when I say “dead on” or “spot on” – I am saying that the stereotypes of the Googling public at large conforms to my personal stereotypes. Like all stereotypes, they are wrong and do not describe reality.

2. Los Angeles

I think LA has more appeal than these – but I totally see where they come from.

1. New York City

I’d say New Yorkers would agree (and would have fun comparing these to LA’s).

That’s all for America, but you can do this with anything – cities, people, things, companies, etc. Here’s a few more international cities I looked at.

Toronto

I always think of Toronto as the Dallas of Canada for some reason.

EDIT: I have learned that Toronto has some very passionate residents who have persuaded me that actually Calgary is the Dallas of Canada, and that Toronto is a world-class city that I must visit (which I certainly will). Kudos to Toronto for the civic pride! (And to Dallas – I’m not saying that you are the Calgary of the US at all. And to Calgarians – talk to the Torontans).

Sao Paulo

Spot on from what I hear.

Shanghai

Cold? Yeah – I think of Shanghai as hot, but if I looked at the actual weather, it would throw me off.

EDIT: Yes, I checked and Shanghai does get quite cold during the winter.

Thanks for the catch Steve (I’ll edit it here shortly)! That’s a gorgeous shot – I love how it looks like Birmingham Alabama is incorporating the old industrial works into the skyline. Reminds me of how the textile mills are being re-adapted here in Atlanta’s Cabbagetown.

As a Buffalo native, I can’t figure out why anyone thinks it’s expensive. One of the great benefits of living in cold, depressing places is they tend to be cheap.

Also, not sure why Toronto would be Canada’s Dallas. Calgary, Alberta is definitely Canada’s Dallas: impressive skyline and a western economy built on cows and oil. I would say Toronto is more like Canada’s Chicago: Great Lakes location and cultural inferiority complex compared to older, most established eastern cities (New York/Montreal).

Thanks Jason – that’s a really cool insight. Totally see that. I do hope to visit Toronto and see what it’s really about. And yeah – really odd stereotype about Buffalo. Speaking of which – what do you think about the Bills moving over the water? Is Toronto a Buffalo rival or twin?

As nearly as I can tell, they’re rivals. Buffalo has nearly the same relationship to Toronto that Philadelphia does to New York, or Baltimore does with DC, or even Providence and Boston, except there isn’t the same kind of commuter shed that (say) Hamilton can provide Toronto.

However, like Rochester, Buffalo is saturated with Toronto media (and vice versa: many of the public broadcasting donors to stations in those cities are from the Toronto area). A lot of my educated friends from western New York speak with an accent that’s very nearly Canadian to me.

I’m guessing that “expensive” here often maps to “too expensive for my wages”. In that case, very cheap cities will still be expensive to someone whose wages are low. But you’re right, Buffalo is VERY inexpensive to me.

Toronto=Dallas? This is a fascinating article, but uhh??? Not at all?? Toronto is a major world city in the league of New York, San Francisco, Paris, and London. I would really recommend looking into it if you have time! Toronto is such a vibrant, exciting, diverse city, and it has such a vast and eclectic variety of neighborhoods that it’s one of the most fun in the world to explore. Americans hardly ever realize that there’s a monolithic global powerhouse right across the lake from Upstate New York!

Forgot to also say that this was really really fun to read! Thank you for doing this by METRO area rather than by city limit population. I’m so sick of reading articles about American cities that leave out Minneapolis-St. Paul because they don’t have giant city limits.

Yeah – that’s just my initial perception. But I hear it’s an amazing city (and ya’ll almost beat out Atlanta for the ’96 Olympics from what I read). I definitely plan on visiting. What are a few places I should not miss out on?

Well I don’t actually live in Toronto, but I’ve been a few times! Queen West is fun to explore, definitely check out Kensington Market and St. Lawrence Market, and take the ferry to Toronto Islands. The Harbourfront is undergoing major renovations right now and should be really cool when it’s done. CN Tower obviously is a big tourist draw. Entertainment District has a big party scene, Yorkville has big shopping. I really like Casa Loma and the Annex because they remind me of the part of Minneapolis I grew up in.

Why the hate for Dallas? Does Dallas not have “a vibrant, exciting, diverse city, and […] a vast and eclectic variety of neighborhoods” that are fun to explore? Oh and if you are looking for a “world class city”, then welcome to the “Texas Century”.

Or have you just never been here and simply base your beliefs on articles you read about Dallas by other people who have never been here.

Believe it or not, getting compared to Dallas isn’t necessarily an insult.

No hate here D-May – that’s why I tried to make it clear that these were my stereotypes and perceptions – gotta confront them before changing. I do have that perception of Dallas (same as others have stereotypes for my amazing city of Atlanta). I’d love to (and plan on) getting out to Dallas and seeing what it’s really about. I’ve heard you guys have an amazing arts district, beautiful streets, some great restaurants. Thanks for the comment!

Any yet you say “dead on”. For one Chicago is not very windy compared to other areas in the US. It is less windy for instance than Boston of New York. It is not that cold, sure Jan and Feb can be but the average high year round is about 64 degrees over the year with a low in the 40’s That is based on the most recent 30-year data. It is not all that violent for a large city..though more violent the NYC and LA. It is incidentally substantially less violent than Atlanta for instance.

So perhaps you should rephrase “not dead on”

either that or reserve your commentary until you can back it up with experience.

I said “dead on” in that the stereotypes that Google AutoSuggest spits out line up with what my, and many other people’s, stereotypes about Chicago are. Those stereotypes, like all stereotypes, do not line up with reality. This exercise was just about exploring how other people perceive other places – whether based on hearsay, media, or actual experience. Not at all about what those places actually are. Seriously, no hate towards Chicago at all.

I can’t compare Chicago to Atlanta having never been to Atlanta, but as a Milwaukeean (who begrudgingly agrees with some of the stereotypes of my own city posted here) I visit Chicago any chance I get and it’s an incredible place. Nothing second about the second city in my opinion, and I far prefer it to the sprawl of Houston or L.A., though those might be apples and oranges.

Ha! Great read! I’ve been to almost all of the cities on the list. I did travel nursing for two years and drove cross-country and now travel several times a year for work. Most of them are spot-on in my opinion! I am from Louisville and i think that one is pretty funny! I love my city, but can’t really figure out why? i’ve been told it’s like a great little eclectic European town with a great personality. And in regards to Miami I have been there a few times and it’s all over the map. And I have a work collegue who lives there and had her whole life and she says that everyone from there hates it, but doesn’t leave? Hhhmmm….

I just moved away from Dallas. It’s a wind tunnel, especially if you live higher up in a condo. All I could hear during winter was the wind howling day AND night. I’ve never experienced that elsewhere. I also probably helped create that auto-fill.

Hi Virginia – that’s interesting to me. For whatever reason I think of Sacramento as pretty far north (hence cold) – but it’s really not. It’s on the same latitude as DC. I’m sure it also has a sort of microclimate too.

Several years ago, people in Chicago were dying in a 105-degree heatwave. Seattle had solid cloud cover and temperatures below 60 for three months. First sunny day, 72 degrees, the local newsies were wandering around asking (in a non-ironical way) if people were aware of the symptoms of heatstroke.

“Why is Seattle so warm?” is the rain-bleached Seattlite’s version of “Oh, look, the sun’s out.”

why is Miami full of bad drivers
why is Miami full of people that don’t speak English (I am fully for being able to speak multiple languages but there are certain parts of the county where if you don’t speak Spanish, you are not going to be able to anything/get service)

Came here to say this and also add vain/shallow to the list. I attended college and worked in Miami for two years. Seeing that much self-absorbed behavior was atounding in ways I didn’t think were possible.

Miami can be a traumatizing place, so I can understand if your subconscious managed to block it out. I can’t trash Miami too much, because I did learn a lot of useful information when I was there. Still, it’s a place where you’ll get jaded at a very quick pace.

1) The beach and military…the former is known for being a family-friendly, lower-cost alternative to places like Miami or Hawaii…
2) Military allowance plays into it a bit…the low salaries for civilians doesn’t help
3) “Virginia is For Lovers”
4) See #1…

I see someone popped in with a comment about Sacramento being hot and yes, it’s true – I’m not sure about winter months, but during the summer it regularly gets to be in the 90s-100s, and it doesn’t snow there.

I’m surprised that the Google gods consider San Diego cold though – from what I remember the weather doesn’t vary much at all, but generally hovers between 70 and 80 year round. Maybe 60s in winter. *shrugs*

-Former resident of polluted and popular LA, current resident of gay and dirty SF.

Funny idea. All seem to be fairly bang on except for Toronto and Dallas. I lived in both. Dallas is no Toronto. Heck, Dallas is no Vancouver or Montreal either. Toronto is a lot more like New York or Chicago. Two other places I’ve also lived in.

Salt Lake’s air really only has issues during the months of January (wintertime inversion) and July (summertime ozone), and even then it’s not an everyday occurrence. I don’t mean to trivialize the problem, as when our air gets polluted it’s a magnificently serious issue. But ninety-five percent of the time our air is just fine.

Google results are not universal. You won’t get the same auto-suggests and I will. And they will not be the same next week. I typed in the cities, and while some of the words were the same, more than have of the auto-suggests were different from what is listed here.

The thing about Portland is that while it’s weird and great and liberal, the population demographics aren’t terribly diverse, especially in comparison with other large cities. Those wondering why Portland is so white may actually have a valid curiosity of why a city so well-known for its acceptance of other cultures and lifestyles is so predominantly white.

As for Salt Lake’s wide streets, chalk it up to some good city planning back in the day. It definitely comes in handy during rush hour traffic.

The Washington DC ones make complete sense if you live here. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: DC is two cities. One is mostly white, wealthy, and safe. It’s the city west of 16th street. The other is mostly poor, black, and dangerous. It’s most of the city east of 16th. Check out this map of recent homicides in the District and then look on this site for a demographic map of the city, and note the correlations between the two. Kinda hard to miss.

Hartford is also the name of a company, hence the stock reference. SoBro in Indianapolis refers to South Broadripple – similar to SoHo in NYC referring to South of Houston. Regardless, SoBro in recent years has become fairly bro.

I think Virginia Beach (or Hampton Roads, I guess) is confusing for the same reason San Bernardino (or the Inland Empire) is confusing: there’s a conurbation of between seven and fifteen municipalities with roughly equal population in search of a center. Or so the story goes. I grew up there and kind of think of it as a nice place to raise a family, or a plant, but no place to fall in love.

No, Cleveland really is cloudy, because of its location on on Lake Erie. And, in the winter, the east side of Cleveland gets at least a little lake effect snow almost every day unless Lake Erie freezes.

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